ACC to educate youth about corruption fallout

Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission(ACC)Iqbal Mahmood has said the agency will prepare itself to educate the country’s younger generation about the bad effects of corruption, while continuing its usual punitive works. 

"We've already taken various steps to keep the country's future generation away from the grip of corruption. Involving people from all strata, we're trying to disseminate a message that corruption is a 'poisonous gas' for our society," he told UNB in an interview recently. 

The ACC chief said the national anti-graft agency has set up Satata Sanghas and moral uprightness associations in 22,000 schools and other educational institutions across the country, aiming to educate students with a message that corruption is a deviation from conscience, and help grow up as honest citizens, reports UNB. 

The number of Satata Sanghas will be raised to 33,000 as part of its nationwide anti-graft campaign, he said. "We've announced a five-year strategy and workplan for the Commission. Now it's being implemented on a one-year basis, dividing it into five phases," Mahmood said. 

Noting that the Commission is now giving more emphasis on prevention of corruption, he said the ACC is holding public hearings, setting up Satata Stores (integrity units) at schools and the Corruption Prevention Committees (CPCs) at zila and upazila levels. 

"The national anti-graft watchdog is also holding discussions, cartoon shows and easy competitions to disseminate anti-corruption messages among people and making them aware of the adverse impacts of graft," the ACC chairman said, adding, "If we can create awareness among people, the corrupt elements will have a sense fear." 

According to official sources, the ACC has installed 636 Satata Stores (integrity shops) at different secondary-level educational institutions across the country to enhance the moral uprightness among schoolchildren. So far, it held 71 public hearings on the services provided by government agencies, and formed 493 CPCs at zila and upazila levels. 

About the success of the commission in fighting graft, Iqbal Mahmood said the ACC has already started changing its working procedures. "I won't claim that we've been able to reach the desired level. At least, the mentality of the ACC officials has started changing, and we're trying our best so that common people don't face any harassment by both government officials and ACC staff." 

In many cases, the ACC is unable to conduct quality probes into graft allegations for various reasons, he said, but the Commission is trying to identify the reasons and give solutions to that. "We're giving training to our officials in different ways to enhance their skills so that they conduct quality probes against graft suspects." 

The national anti-graft agency is also trying to get success in cent per cent graft cases ensuring punishment against suspects in courts, Mahmood said, claiming that now the conviction rate in graft cases filed by the ACC reached 70 per cent, but it wants to see that graft suspects get conviction in cent per cent graft cases. 

Asked whether the ACC prosecutors show any negligence in conducting graft cases in court, the ACC chief agreed that there is a weakness in prosecution and that is why the Commission has recently removed its 20 prosecutors from its panel as their performance was very poor.